Category Archives: News

Joh Paul II and the Beggar Priest

JPIIDr Scott Hahn shared the following true story on April 25, 2001, on “Mother Angelica live.” This story was related to Dr. Hahn by his spiritual director. He heard the story while in New York City visiting a priest who is in the Archdiocese of NY. This priest related the story of what happened on his last trip to Rome.

The priest was scheduled to have a private audience with John Paul II. On the appointed day, the priest decided to stop in a basilica to say a prayer. On the steps of the church, he thought that he recognized one of the beggars. After entering the sanctuary, he knelt down to pray and then it hit him. The priest rushed out and approached the beggar: “I know you. Didn’t we go to seminary together?” The man gave a nodded. “So you are a priest then?” he said to the beggar. The man replied, “Not anymore.” He said that he had “crashed and burned” in his vocation. “Please leave me alone,” the beggar said. The priest was mindful of his approaching appointment with the Holy Father. “I’ve got to go — I’ll pray for you.” The beggar replied, “A lot of good that will do.”

The private meetings with the Pope are typically very formal. There are a number of people who have been granted a private audience at the same time, and when the Holy Father makes his way toward you, his secretary hands him a blessed rosary, and the pope in turn hands it to you. At this point, one would probably kiss the Pope’s ring and say something heartfelt. However, as Pope John Paul II approached, the priest gave in to a holy impulse, got down on his knees and implored the Pope: “Pray, Holy Father, for this particular man. I went to the seminary with him and now he is a beggar. He’s lost. Pray for him.” The priest told the Pope the entire story. The Holy Father looked concerned and he assured the priest that he would pray for his friend. As he moved on, he whispered something to an aide.

Later that day, the priest was contacted by the Vatican. They told the priest that he and the beggar – the former priest – were invited to see the Pope for dinner. Excited, he rushed back to the church where he last saw his classmate. Only a few beggars were left, and as luck (or grace) would have it, his former classmate was among them. He approached the man and said, “I have been to see the Pope, and he said he would pray for you. And there’s more. He has invited us to his private residence for dinner.”

“Impossible,” said the man. “Look at me. I am a mess. I haven’t showered in a long time… and my clothes …” The priest said, “I have a hotel room where you can shower and shave, and I have clothes that will fit you.” Again, by God’s grace, the beggar priest agreed. The Pope’s hospitality was wonderful. At the close of dinner, the pope’s secretary whispered to the priest, “He wants us to leave,” at which point the priest and the secretary left the Holy Father alone with the beggar. After quite some time, the beggar emerged from the room in tears. “What happened in there?” asked the priest. The most remarkable reply came. “The Pope asked me to hear his confession,” choked the beggar. After regaining composure, the man continued, “I told him, ‘Your Holiness, look at me. I am a beggar. I am not a priest.’”

“The Pope looked at me and said, ‘My son, once a priest always a priest, and who among us is not a beggar. I too come before the Lord as a beggar asking for forgiveness of my sins.’ I told him I was not in good standing with the Church, and he assured me that as the Bishop of Rome he could reinstate me right then and there.”
The man relayed that it had been so long since he had heard a confession that the Pope had to help him through the words of absolution. The priest friend asked, “But you were in there for some time. Surely the Pope’s confession did not last that long.”

“No,” said his friend, “But after I heard his confession, I asked him to hear mine.” The final words spoken by Pope John Paul II to this prodigal son came in the form of a commission. When the NY priest was invited back in from the hallway, the Pope asked him about the beggar, “Where was the parish where you found him?” The priest told him and then the Pope said to the beggar priest. “For your first pastoral assignment, I want you to go to the pastor there and report for duty because you’ll be an associate there with a special outreach for your fellow beggars.”

And that is where the beggar is today, fulfilling his new priestly role ministering to the homeless and the beggars on the steps of the very church from where he had just come.

A Home on the Plains

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The Missionary Sisters

The third president of the IRL was Bishop Glennon P. Flavin, 7th bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska. He founded the community of the School Sisters of Christ the King amongst many other pastoral achievements. A fine biography of the bishop who died in 1995 can be found on the sister’s website.

One of the lesser known things that the bishop did was to establish the first canonical Vietnamese parish in the U.S., a haven where refugees from the Vietnam War could worship in their own language and pass on their traditions and culture to future generations.

Motherhouse in Vietnam
Motherhouse in Vietnam

It was in 1985 that the Bishop invited three sisters from the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Mercy to assist the local Vietnamese community. This community of sisters was founded in the 1950’s by Father Bernard Maria Bui Khai Hoan, CMC., in Saigon. In 1975, some of the sisters were forced to flee the country during the Communist takeover. They ended up in Australia in what they hoped would be a temporary exile. With tears they soon realized that they could not return home. God had other plans for them, far, far from home. While their Motherhouse is in Vietnam, their roots are now in U.S. soil for they were canonically established in the diocese in 1999.

Today, the sisters work in the diocese at a rehabilitation hospital, care for the bishop’s residence, teach catechism at elementary schools and provide assistance at a Vietnamese parish. They also run Little Flowers Daycare.

However, says Sr. Rosaria Hoang, “the work we are doing is not important as to whom we are. With our witnesses to the religious consecrated life, we pray and hope that the Holy Spirit will ‘tap’ on those we have a chance to interact with and draw them all closer to him.”

“I Belong to Jesus”

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Rolando (left) and his family

On October 5th, a young man from Italy became the first seminarian to be beatified in Church history. Rolando Rivi, 14 years old at the time of his death, was beatified in Modena in front of a crowd of 20,000 people.

Rolando Rivi was born in 1931 and lived in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, the “triangle of death.” During World War II, the area was ripe with partisans, who included Communists and anti-clerical elements, fighting for the Allied cause. The Communists, of course, had the long-term objective of driving God out of society. In total, 93 priests were killed in the region.

When the Nazis occupied Rolando’s seminary, he returned home to San Valentino. For safety reasons, his parents thought he should not wear his cassock, but he said, “I study to be a priest, and these vestments are a sign that I belong to Jesus.”

On day Rolando went into the quiet of the woods to pray and never returned. Kidnapped by the partisans, he was tortured for three days and then sentenced to death so the world would have “one less future priest.” On April 13, 1945, he knelt at a newly dug grave and was shot. His cassock was kicked around like a soccer ball and later strung up on a door.

After the war, the specifics of his death were deemed a “private crime,” not part of a larger agenda. His killers served only 6 years in jail. An Italian journalist, Emilio Bonicelli, became interested in his story, especially the miraculous healing of an English child who was healed of leukemia after prayers for Rolando’s intercession.

rivi2“In the forest where Rolando was killed, it seemed that hate won and that Rolando had been extinguished from history,” said Mr. Bonicelli. “But the Lord taught us there is no great evil that cannot lead to a greater good.”

A biographer, P. Alfonso M.A. Bruno, FI, wrote: There is an empty altar in which this young man never celebrated the Mass, but there are so many other youths that have been called to the priesthood and with enthusiasm, driven by this example, will celebrate on this same altar. Rolando has gone directly to the altar of glory, making of himself a pure host, holy and immaculate, offered to God for the salvation of his brothers.  

For the complete story, see the story in the National Catholic Register.

From Sea to Shining Sea

Postulants
Postulants

On August 28, 2013, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, welcomed 19 (yes, nineteen!) young women as postulants. This follows on the heels of the announcement on July 31 that a Decree had been issued erecting their order as an Institute of Diocesan Right. Bishop Earl Boyea also approved their Constitutions. In 19 years, they have grown to 120 sisters!

When the story of the revival of religious life in America is written, one of the headliners will surely be the Dominican Sisters of Mary. Mother Assumpta Long, OP, was one of the women who was part of the IRL from the beginning and spoke out for the many sisters who increasingly felt voiceless as more “liberal” voices in religious life gained press attention. How grateful we are for her support and wisdom over the years.

Other items of interest gleaned from their latest newsletter includes the news that Sr. Mary Judith had the great joy on May 31st to attend her two (yes, 2) brothers’ diaconate ordinations. Rev. Br. Nathan Caswell, S.J.C., and Rev. Br. Joshua Caswell, S.J.C., were ordained for the Archdiocese of Chicago as members of the Canons Regular of Saint John Cantius. Also, Sr. Agnes Maria experienced one of the most memorable days of her life when her little brother, Ricardo Pineda Jr., was ordained a priest forever for the Congregation of the Fathers of Mercy.

Another innovation that I wish had been in place at my Catholic College was inaugurated last year at The Catholic University of America and expanded this year. Called the Religious-in-Residence program, it is a program carried out in conjunction with Campus Ministry where the Dominican sisters minister to young women in the residence halls while pursuing graduate studies.

Mother Assumpta, Sr. Joseph Andrew with Texas sisters
Mother Assumpta & Sr. Joseph Andrew with the Texas sisters

We are also blessed in the Chicago area to have four sisters teaching at two Catholic schools. Sr. Mary Judith and Sr. Teresa Paul teach at St. Benedict the African School in Englewood. It is an all African American school in a very challenging neighborhood. Sr. Mary Magdalene and Sr. Louis Marie teach at St. Ignatius College Prep which notes among its alumni some famous politicians (boy do we need good Catholic politicians), the comedian Bob Newhart and my pastor.

Finally, on September 21, two bishops celebrated the Rite of Blessing for the new OP convent in Georgetown, Texas. It is the first permanent residence for the sisters outside of their home base of Michigan.

Mother Assumpta said: I send a strong commitment to you and everyone in Texas that we are here to stay. I can now say unequivocally: we have sunk our roots in the rich Texas soil!

May God bless them from sea to shining sea! Did I mention they are also in California, Florida, Arizona and Ohio? And Rome?

Pray With the Pope

apostleRecently the Apostleship of Prayer became an IRL Affiliate organization. We welcome them and support their mission of praying for the Pope’s special intentions.

The Apostleship of Prayer began in France in 1844. At that time Fr. Francis Xavier Gautrelet told a group of Jesuit seminarians who were eager to work on the missions: “Be apostles now, apostles of prayer! Offer everything you are doing each day in union with the Heart of our Lord for what He wishes, the spread of the Kingdom for the salvation of souls.”

Devotion to this simple, profound way of life spread, and in time the Pope himself proposed a monthly intention. Since 1929 the Holy Father has proposed a second monthly intention, one specifically related to the missionary work of the Church.  Over fifty million apostles of prayer worldwide now pray for the Pope’s two prayer intentions each month. 

Truly the Apostleship of Prayer is the Pope’s own “prayer group.” It is, as Pope John Paul II wrote in 1985, “a precious treasure from the Pope’s heart and the Heart of Christ.”

POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR NOVEMBER:

“That priests who experience difficulties may find comfort in their suffering, support in their doubts, and confirmation in their fidelity”.

His mission intention is: “That as fruit of the continental mission, Latin American Churches may send missionaries to other Churches”.


For more information visit: //www.apostleshipofprayer.org/

Sisters Escape Burning Building

card dolan fdcSomehow I missed this terrible story.

On October 12, 2013, three 19-year-old men set two fires in a Daughters of Divine Charity convent in Staten Island, New York, critically injuring one of the sisters. The three college students had spent the evening smoking marijuana and drinking before breaking into the convent, looking for something to steal. Upon leaving, one of the men set two fires: one in a first floor closet and anther in a 3rd floor bedroom.

The convent is located at St. Joseph Hill Academy on Staten Island. The fire destroyed their chapel, sacristy, archives and provincial offices.This follows on the heels of two other incidences of vandalism on the property. Fortunately, arrests have been made in this latest incident.

Thankfully, Sister Regina Gegic, F.D.C., 45, celebrating 25 years as a religious, was able to return home on Monday after a two-week stay in the hospital. Click here to see the video. Sister was injured when she jumped from a second floor window to escape the blaze, breaking three vertebrae in her back. Another sister escaped the fire unharmed.

Just one day after the fire, Cardinal Timothy Dolan was with the sisters, celebrating the mass in honor of 100 years of service in America. In addition to their education apostolate, the sisters run St. Mary’s Residence for young women in Manhattan. “Sisters, you were prolific from the very beginning,” he said. “The best is yet to come. I think our gratitude is even deeper in the shadows of what happened and it shows how fragile life is and how vulnerable we are.”

On November 7, a fundraiser will be held at Jimmy Max restaurants in the area to help raise funds to restore the convent. If you would like to make a donation, please visit their website.

May God protect them and those they serve.

 

With Forgiveness in Their Hearts

beatification_ceremony_spainOne of the amazing stories coming out of the beatification of the 522 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War on October 13 is the witness of Carmen Cubelle, age 76. Carmen’s aunt, Sr. Josefa Martinez, a Servant of Mary, was one of those beatified. Many family members of the martyrs attended the beatification but for Carmen, her aunt’s courage meant the difference between her own life and death.

Carmen’s father had been arrested and killed for attending night Eucharistic adoration. Her mother, pregnant with Carmen, and her aunt, Sr. Josefa, were arrested a month later. In their jail cell, Sr. Josefa prayed aloud that her sister and her unborn child might be spared, and offered herself as an offering on their behalf.

“Lord,” she prayed, “if this jailer is a father and has a wife, move him to compassion, that he will set my sister free. May the life of her child be saved; may the life of my sister be saved, and may they kill me. I want to die a martyr for her, for the faith, defending the lives of my sister and my nephew.”

Sr. Josefa’s prayer was answered. The sisters bade farewell to each other, saying they would meet in eternity, and Sr. Josefa was taken before a firing squad and shot.

When I talked to a Servant of Mary about the beatification, the main theme that ran through all of the proceedings was a spirit of forgiveness. The martyrs all died, said Bishop Jaume Pujol Balcells of Tarragona, “in imitation of the Lord, with words of forgiveness on their lips.”

Carmen said that her mother was asked if she wanted to press charges against the men who had killed her husband and sister. Her mother said that “she didn’t want to know anything about it because she had forgiven them.”

Read the complete story in the National Catholic Register.

The Dedication of “Tina Mae”

tina maeI first went into St. John Cantius Church almost 20 years ago when the church was in dire need of renovation. Seeing these old, beautiful churches in decay is heartbreaking but in the case of St. John Cantius, the story has a happy ending.

Founded by Polish immigrants and dedicated in 1898, St. John Cantius had at its peak about 23,000 parishioners, but as is so common with many inner city parishes, it went into decline. After Father Frank Phillips C.R. became pastor, he went about the task of renovating and preserving its architectural splendor. Equally important, he introduced reverent liturgies and sacred music as part of parish life. As young men became interested in this revival of traditional Catholic culture, he received approval in 1998 to found the Society of St. John Cantius, a community of religious brothers and priests who strive to restore the sacred in parochial life.

The interior restoration work in the Church was completed in 2012 but an important piece was yet to come – a top quality organ. It so happened that a Church on the south side of Chicago was closing and their organ needed a home. This wasn’t just any organ. It was built by the Casavant Freres Organ Company of Quebec, Canada, for St. James Methodist-Episcopal in 1926 under the guidance of Miss Tina Mae Haines, a concert organist. Dedicated to the memory of Gustavus F. Swift, founder of the Swift Meat-Processing Company, it was used not only for Church music but also became a premier concert organ for recitals in the city.

cantius picIn 2011, St. James was closing and the organ, perilously housed under a leaky roof, needed a home in a hurry. Stephen Schnurr of the Organ Historical Society and Jeff Weiler, of J.L. Weiler, Inc., a Chicago based Organ Restorer and Conservator, asked Saint John Cantius Church if they were interested in acquiring it. Thanks to the Patrons of Sacred Music who raised the funds and relying on the assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to see to the details, the organ restoration project was completed.

The organ, now named “Tina Mae” (Christina Mary), will be blessed and dedicated on October 20, 2013, the Solemn Feast of St. John Cantius (1962 Missale Romanum) by Cardinal Francis George, OMI. A Pontifical High Mass (Extraordinary Form) will be celebrated by Bishop Joseph Perry (All are welcome). There will also be a dinner at 6:00 p.m. and an organ recital at 7:00 p.m. in the Church (Tickets required).

To see some fascinating videos about the organ project and the history of the organ, click here. To order tickets for the dinner or recital, visit the St. John Cantius website.

 

Illuminating the Night of Suffering

SdeMmartyrTomorrow, October 13, four Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick, will be beatified in Spain. Back in June (see story in the Register), the Vatican declared them to be martyrs of the faith, along with 18 Benedictines, four Discalced Carmelites, one diocesan priest, 66 Marist Brothers, and two laymen.

Each martyr has a unique story of heroism but none more so than the four Servants of Mary whose identity was made known to their killers by something simple and powerful: the rosary. The sisters lived near Madrid in Pozuelo de Alarcón where the convent was home to elderly and convalescent sisters as well as active sisters who cared for the sick and dying.

In August of 1936, as the Spanish Civil War and religious persecution were raging, the sisters, whose convent had been confiscated and who not allowed to wear their habits, were told to evacuate the town. Mother Aurelia, who was an invalid, and Sister Aurora, who was 86 years old, remained behind with two younger sisters, Sister Daría and Sister Agustina. Mother Aurelia was known for saying: “We are in the hands of God… He knows that we are here.” Sister Agustina, the youngest martyr, was Mother’s caregiver. “When she could no longer wear her habit, she said that sometime soon she would be able to wear it again, and if they killed us, we would wear it in heaven for ever.”

On December 1, Sister Agustina was separated from the other sisters and turned into the authorities under suspicion of being a religious because someone, it is believed, saw her praying the rosary. She was taken by soldiers and shot. The other three sisters’ identities became known when a soldier picked up Mother Aurora and felt a rosary under her dress. Sister Daría confirmed this when she said, “Yes, we are Sisters.” They were taken away and shot.

When a Servant of Mary joins the congregation she is given a rosary. As Sister Julia Castillo Ibáñez, General Postulator for the Cause, wrote, “Only by delving deeper with Mary into the mystery of Christ, can she effectively draw near the mystery of suffering humanity; only by keeping and contemplating the mystery of Christ in her heart like Mary will she find the right words and actions to alleviate and illuminate the night of suffering.”

Speak Lord!

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The IRL has recently launched an innovative new vocation resource called Project: Speak Lord. The program consists of FREE monthly audio downloads of informative, inspiring and lively talks concerning vocational discernment and the consecrated life.

Collaborating with Lighthouse Catholic Media, the IRL’s goal is to provide young adults with solid offerings on the subject of vocations that will challenge their hearts and minds. Speakers include: Mother Teresa, Archbishop Sheen, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Fr. Thomas Nelson, O.Praem., and Dr. Scott Hahn.

The audio downloads are sent once a month. Users must register to receive the first talk, then will receive monthly email notices of the next talk. Additional information will be sent to those enrolled in the program.

Mike Wick, our Executive Director said, “Most Catholics do not receive this type of information in religious education  classes, and might not even get it in most Catholic high schools, colleges or parish youth groups. Although there are many audio and video Catholic resources online, none of them specifically focuses on priestly and religious vocations.”

To sign up or receive more information, click here.